I looked at this piece in the CNN and it amazed me in many ways. The world knows about those two legendary tennis players who are still playing the game right now.
What stunned me is how they came from very humble beginnings and just went for the whole thing at world stage.
I have a niece now who drives me nuts sometimes because she has her dreams in her college and wants to do everything. She is only 21 years old so last week we were talking and I told her she cannot just want to go for everything.
Then I saw this Serena Williams and family story and I need to talk to that young girl again about her dreams and support her 100%.
Serena Williams waves to the crowd after winning the Australian Open in 2017. It was her 23rd grand slam singles title, breaking the record for the most titles by a woman in the Open era of professional tennis. Scott Barbour/Getty Images
In pictures: Tennis legend Serena Williams
Serena Williams returned to the tennis court on Tuesday after almost four years away from the sport.
She teamed up with Victoria Mboko to win a doubles match at the Queen’s Club Championships in London.
Williams, 44, last played in 2022, when she lost a singles match at the US Open to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović. At the time, she did not use the word “retirement,” instead saying she was “evolving away from tennis.”
“There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction,” Williams posted on Instagram with a picture of herself on the cover of Vogue with the title “Serena’s Farewell.”
Williams has dominated women’s tennis for much of her career. She has won 23 grand slam singles titles, which is the most in the Open era and one behind the all-time record held by Margaret Court. She also has won four Olympic gold medals and over $94.5 million in prize money.
She and her older sister, Venus, transformed the sport when they became professionals as teenage phenoms. They’ve teamed up for many grand slam doubles titles and faced off against each other in grand slam finals.
Williams’ father, Richard, coached her and her older sister, Venus, to play tennis at an early age. From left are Venus, Richard, Serena and mother Brandy.
Serena plays tennis in 1992. She and her sister spent their early years playing tennis in Compton, California, just outside of Los Angeles. They later moved to a tennis academy in Florida. Ken Levine/Getty Images
Serena and sister with their dad talking to the media about their tennis and what they want to achieve in the game.
The Williams sisters and the Jensen brothers, Luke and Murphy, play an exhibition in New York’s Times Square in 1997. It was part of the lead-up to the US Open. Gino Domenico/AP
Serena, left, walks past Venus as they played against each other in the second round of the Australian Open in 1998. It was Serena’s first grand slam tournament. Venus won the match 7-6, 6-1. Rick Stevens/AP
Serena plays at the French Open in 1998. She made it to the fourth round.
Serena won her first grand slam singles title in 1999, when she defeated Martina Hingis to win the US Open. She was the first Black woman to win a grand slam singles title since Althea Gibson in 1958.
The sisters teamed up in doubles to win Olympic gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. They would also win doubles gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Serena, left, and Venus stand with tennis great Billie Jean King after Venus defeated Serena to win the US Open final in 2001. It was Venus’ fourth grand slam singles title. Howard Earl Simmons/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images
Serena plays against Janette Husarova at the French Open in 2002. Serena would go on to win the tournament for her second grand slam singles title, and she followed it up with three straight titles at Wimbledon, the US Open and then the Australian Open in 2003. It became known as the “Serena Slam.” Bob Martin/Sports Illustrated/Getty Image
Serena poses with the trophy after winning her first Wimbledon title in 2002. She was No. 1 in the world at the age of 20. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Serena serves during the Australian Open in 2003. She defeated her sister Venus in the final that year. Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Serena signs autographs after a match in Key Biscayne, Florida, in 2004.
June 11, 2026Serena Williams’ London comeback at the HSBC Championships has been prematurely curtailed after her doubles partner Victoria Mboko was forced to withdraw with a left knee injury.
It looked unlikely Williams, 44, and Mboko, 19, would play Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund on Thursday evening as scheduled when Mboko retired from her singles match against Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday after slipping in the second set
Here is the whole piece on CNN which is pretty nice piece of good things to read.
Adongo Ogony is a Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
